


I've a Feeling we're not in Seattle Anymore

by LonesomeWhistle



Category: Grey's Anatomy
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-07
Updated: 2020-05-23
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:21:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 5,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23057632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LonesomeWhistle/pseuds/LonesomeWhistle
Summary: Alex makes one phone call that changes his life forever.
Relationships: Alex Karev/Isobel "Izzie" Stevens, Alex Karev/Jo Wilson Karev
Comments: 26
Kudos: 94





	1. Chapter 1

It was late when Alex walked up to their flat. He assumed Jo would already be in bed so he was careful to pull the door open slowly, not that it helped much. The rumble of the heavy sliding door was quickly followed by a soft murmur from the couch.

"Mmm, what time is it?" Jo asked as she sat up.

Alex put his bag down then checked his watch. "A bit past midnight. Sorry, I didn't plan on being this late. I told you not to wait up for me."

"I know," Jo said getting up from the couch and tossing him sweatpants to change into, "But I was worried. How's Meredith?"

Alex sighed. "About as good as can be expected considering she may be losing her medical license." He sat down at the edge of their bed. "This job is who she is. The world needs Meredith Grey at the forefront of medicine. I can't believe this is even being debated."

Jo joined him on the bed, wrapping her arms around him. "Yeah, it's crazy," she said. "No one who has actually worked with her or been one of her patients would ever question if she should be a doctor."

A few minutes passed in silence, Alex almost falling asleep in Jo's arms when what she said flicked a switch in his brain. Meredith had saved so many lives, touched so many hearts, and inspired so many minds. Quickly he turned to face Jo.

"What if we reached out to her old patients? I'm sure there are loads of people who would come out to support her. And maybe actually seeing all the lives she's helped and saved, maybe a show of support like that, maybe..." Alex trailed off. As excited as the idea made him, he was scared to get hopeful. But then he looked up at Jo and her smile told him that he was on to something.

"Alex, that's it! First thing in the morning we'll go to Records and dig up all her big cases. We'll contact everyone we can, explain what's going on, and ask if they'd be willing to come to the trial. And I'm sure some people who can't come would be willing to write instead."

"Like letters of recommendation!"

"Yes! And why stop with just patients?" Jo ran to her bag and came back with a notepad. "There are so many doctors who have worked with Meredith who would vouch for her." She started scribbling down names and suddenly Alex was feeling like maybe this would all work out and everything could go back to the way it was, the way it should be.

Then Jo handed him the notepad. 

"Here," she said, "You take the doctors and I'll take the patients. Reach out to anyone you can think of."

And that was the decision that would both help save his best friend's career, and change the trajectory of his life forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Basically, I'm retconning the show writers' retcon. I get why they did what they did, but boy oh boy, it did not go down smooth. Hopefully this will be a bit better.


	2. Chapter 2

785-555-0124.

Alex stared at the number. Izzie's number. Well, not _her_ number, but the number for the hospital where she worked. He must be losing his mind if he was considering calling Izzie. It had been ten years since he'd last seen or spoken to her. Ten years since their marriage ended. Not that it mattered. Ultimately, he had found the woman for him, the person who complimented him like no other person ever had. With Jo by his side, he felt like he could do anything. So why was he staring at this number? 

It wasn't like he couldn't call her. Jo had been the one to suggest it just a couple years earlier. She had said he should call Izzie and find out how she was. He simply hadn't felt the need to then. But now it wasn't about him and it wasn't about Izzie. This was about Meredith and he wanted to do whatever he could to help his friend. That was the only reason he had spent an hour online to figure out where Isobel Stevens had landed. 

But now that he had the number in front of him he felt frozen. There was nothing wrong with calling Izzie. Right? 

_You already have so many people coming out and so many more people sending letters. One more won't really make a difference. And Izzie only knew Meredith for a few years during residency._

On the other hand, the plan was to reach out to _everyone_ he could think of. If he ever wanted a reason to speak to Izzie again, this was it. And yes, he did want the reason. Had probably always wanted it, but this was the first reason good enough.

Before he could think on it any longer, he picked up the phone and dialed the number. And as the line started ringing, his heart began to race. Maybe no one would pick up. Okay, he was calling a hospital, of course someone would pick up. But maybe she wouldn't be working today, or maybe she'd be too busy to come to the phone.

"Shawnee County Medical Center, how may I direct your call?"

This was it.

"Hi, I'm calling to speak to Dr. Isobel Stevens." His mouth felt dry. Why was he nervous?

"And who is calling?"

"This is Dr. Karev from Pacific Northwest General." This is something he didn't consider. She could hear it was him and choose not to speak to him. Would she do that?

"Just a minute."

The woman on the phone was only gone for a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity. He didn't feel ready. And then she was back.

"I'm sorry Dr. Karev. It looks like Dr. Stevens stepped out a couple hours ago, but she'll be back later today. Can I take a message?"

"No!" His answer was too sudden and too harsh. He could leave a message. He could get a letter from Izzie without having to speak to her. _But he wanted to hear her voice._

Before he could think of what to say, the woman chimed in again. "Oh, wait. I see here Dr. Stevens wants her calls forwarded to her cell. My mistake. Hold on while I forward your call."

The line was silent for a moment before it was ringing again. Alex took a few deep breaths to try and calm his nerves. 

The ringing stopped and finally, even though she was almost 2,000 miles away, it felt like she was right there beside him, the sound of her voice bringing a smile to his lips that he couldn't stop.

"Hello?"


	3. Chapter 3

"Hello?"  
  
Alex felt a twinge in his chest at the sound of her voice. Suddenly he wished he could see her too. What was she doing right now? What was she thinking about?  
  
"Hello?" Izzie repeated, now sounding confused and maybe a little annoyed. Right, she was wondering who the weirdo was who called her and didn't say anything.  
  
Except Alex didn't know how to start this conversation. So he just blurted out the first thing that came to his mind.  
  
"Mer screwed up Iz, and now she's stuck picking up trash off the street and needs a letter that proves she's better than that. Which, of course she is, so there shouldn't even be a trial. I mean, yeah, she broke the law, but she did the right thing. A little girl would be dead if it wasn't for her. Yet people think she shouldn't be allowed to practice medicine. It's ridiculous! Meredith freakin' Grey spending her days picking up garbage. And still she's managing to do good! But that's so much talent going to waste, no pun intended, and I can't just let that happen."  
  
There was a quiet pause as Alex caught his breath and waited for Izzie's reaction.  
  
"Alex?"  
  
"Oh yeah, it's me. Hello."  
  
"Hey," Izzie said softly. She definitely sounded surprised to hear from him, of course she did, but she didn't sound upset which was a good start. And if she could tell how nervous he was, she wasn't letting on.  
  
And then Izzie laughed.  
  
It wasn't a small laugh. Not some sort of giggle you'd call cute or sweet. It was loud and there was snorting and Alex could picture the tears that were certainly forming from the sheer force of it. And it was so perfectly Izzie, after all these years, still as carefree as he remembered. And with that laugh Alex wasn't nervous anymore. He didn't even know why he'd been nervous in the first place.  
  
"It's not funny Iz." But even as he said the words, he was laughing too. And man did it feel good to be laughing together.  
  
A couple more half-hearted pleas to "Stop, Iz, please," (he didn't mean it, he could spend all day like this) and finally they both calmed down enough to talk.  
  
"Of course she'd be trash-picking, trying to save the world," Izzie said, "So what exactly did she do?"  
  
So Alex explained everything, calmly this time. Every now and then Izzie chimed in with a comment or question, and the whole thing, the two of them talking, just felt so easy and natural.  
  
"So you want me to write a letter of support for Meredith?" Izzie asked.  
  
"Yeah, I mean, if you don't mind."  
  
"Well," Izzie paused and hummed to herself as she thought, "Why me? It's not like you want me writing about how she helped cover for me when I cut a patient's LVAD. Don't get me wrong, I want to help. I'm just saying, I may not be the best choice for this."  
  
Alex had actually thought the same thing. But he couldn't admit that he really had just wanted an excuse to reach out and make sure that she was alive and well. Although, maybe he had been wrong all this time. Maybe there was nothing wrong with him calling her, even without some cover reason. His own wife was okay with it and obviously this conversation was going just fine. Who knows, he could have called years ago and maybe he and Izzie would be friends now. All this time in Seattle, he'd known plenty of people who'd moved past their history with an ex and existed together just fine. Should he tell Izzie he had really called to see how she was doing?  
  
Before Alex could decide one way or the other, he realized there was some commotion going on in the background on Izzie's end and she was saying something to someone else, although he couldn't make out what it was she was saying. She probably had her hand covering her phone as she dealt with whatever it was. After about a minute he could hear her voice clearly again.  
  
"Sorry about that," she said, "Today seems to be one of those days where everyone needs a million things from me and there aren't enough hours in the day."  
  
Alex laughed, "I know that feeling. I'm sorry if I called at a bad time."  
  
"No. Honestly, now is as good a time as any. There wouldn't be a perfect time." Izzie sighed and then said, "We haven't spoken in years, I can spare twenty minutes to chat."  
  
Alex could hear the smile in her voice and he smiled too.  
  
Then he heard voices in the background again, two maybe, a girl and a boy. The girl must have been coming closer to Izzie because he could just make out what she was saying, or rather singing.  
  
 _"Great green gobs of greasy grimy gopher guts, mutilated monkey meat, roasty-toasty birdies feet..."_  
  
Alex wasn't able to stop the laugh that escaped him as he remembered learning that same song in first grade, albeit with slightly different lyrics that were just as gross.  
  
Then it clicked that he was hearing kids' voices in the background and so he asked, "Have you got kids?"  
  
Izzie got quiet. For so long she was quiet that Alex wondered if maybe he shouldn't have asked. Maybe they weren't the kind of exes who could handle knowing about each other's current lives. Should he backtrack and change the topic?  
  
He was about to do just that when Izzie finally answered.  
  
"Yeah, I have kids. Twins."  
  
Alex smiled and said, "That's great Iz." And he really was happy for her. Even when they were going through their divorce, he had always wanted good things for her. But the comfortable air between had now changed. And they both knew why. There was a question that needed answering.  
  
"I used the embryos."  
  
There it was. Alex felt like his breath was knocked out of him by a tonne of bricks. Or rather, by two 40 pound tiny humans.  
  
They were his kids.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With this chapter, we begin deviating from canon. Fingers crossed this goes well!

Finally, they could relax. Well, _he_ couldn’t, but Meredith and everyone else worrying about the fate of her career could finally rest easy. The panel was recommending to the state board that she keep her medical license. He wished he could feel as relieved as they all did, but he now had so much more weighing on his mind.

Alex couldn’t bring himself to stick around and mingle with everyone celebrating. After giving Meredith a tight hug, he went straight to the car where he waited for Jo. She had the biggest smile on her face when she joined him 15 minutes later. How was she going to react to this? Would she be upset?

As she slid in to the passenger seat her smile faltered. Alex knew why of course. As soon as everything righted itself with Meredith, his conversation with Izzie went from the back of his mind straight to the front and it was certainly showing on his face.

“Babe, why do you still look stressed?” Jo asked. “Meredith is good now. Everything is going to go back to the way it was.”

Alex sighed as he started the ignition and pulled out of the parking lot. He knew there would be no easy way to have this conversation. Swallowing hard he looked at Jo. She was looking right back at him concerned now. Quickly, he turned his eyes back to the road. He loved her so much and didn’t want to hurt her.

“I called Izzie last week,” he said quickly.

“Oh.”

Then they were both silent. Alex couldn’t gauge her reaction from that one sound, but couldn’t bring himself to turn his head so just continued.

“It was when I was calling everyone else. I asked her for a letter for Meredith.” Still Alex kept his eyes trained straight ahead.

“Right,” Jo said, “I didn’t notice a letter from her. Did she not want to help?”

“She did want to help. But, I mean, I told you about some of the stuff that went down during the first years of our residency. Izzie wasn’t really the best at following the rules herself, and given the whole reason Meredith needed support in the first place…” Alex trailed off.

“She probably wasn’t the best choice for someone to vouch for Meredith,” Jo finished for him. Alex nodded. He knew where this was going, Jo was smart, and often understood his own feelings better than he did. “But you probably knew that even before you called her.”

Alex didn’t respond. He didn’t know what to say. Of course, Jo was right.

“Alex. Alex,” she said more firmly the second time, and finally he turned to face her. Jo smiled at him and he eased up on the death grip he didn’t even realize he had on the steering wheel. “You don’t need to feel guilty about just wanting to reach out to her to find out how she’s doing. I’m not upset.”

“I know,” he said. Although he did feel guilty. Even though Jo was amazing and was the one that had suggested he call her years earlier he still felt guilty about it. And for some reason that he couldn’t explain, the fact that she wasn’t upset made the guilt worse.

“So, how is she?” Jo asked.

Okay, he knew why he felt guilty. Because this was going to hurt her. _He_ was going to hurt her by telling her this. But more than anything, he couldn’t lie to Jo. Just keeping this from her for the past week had felt wrong.

“She’s doing really good. She lives in Kansas now which I think is crazy, but she seems to be happy with where she is. She’s a surgical oncologist at Shawnee County.” Alex slowly pulled into their parking spot and shut off the car. But he didn’t make a move to get out of the car and neither did Jo. She knew there was more. “She has two kids. They’re five.”

Up until this point Alex hadn’t spoken to anyone about this. Because of that it hadn’t felt completely real. It was almost as if he had imagined the whole thing. But now it was out there. It wasn’t just a conversation between him and Izzie that may or may not have happened. It was actual information that was going to have an actual impact on his life.

“Are they your kids?”

Alex could hear the hurt in her voice and it broke his heart.

“Yeah.”


	5. Chapter 5

"Are they your kids?"

Alex could hear the hurt in her voice and it broke his heart.

"Yeah."

Jo quickly turned away from him to look out the window, but not fast enough for Alex to miss the tears that were forming in her eyes.

"Jo, I –"

Before he could say the words he hadn't even found yet, Jo was out of the car and headed inside.

Alex sat in the car for a few more minutes, resting his head against the steering wheel. Then he pulled out his phone and texted Jo.

**Gonna grab us a pizza. Be back in 20. Then we'll talk about this.**

**I LOVE YOU**

He could just order food to be delivered, but they both needed some time to gather their thoughts.

His phone chimed with Jo's reply.

**Ok**

**I love you too**

Okay, everything was going to be okay.

When Alex returned with their pizza he found Jo just sitting on the couch staring straight ahead, still with her coat and shoes on from before. She did this when she was stressed, just got so lost in her thoughts she didn't even realize she hadn't done anything or even moved in a long time.

Alex brought the pizza over to the kitchen table and then went to grab them some plates. "I got Hawaiian, your favourite."

Jo made no move to get up from the couch, but did at least turn to face him.

"You said they're five. So that means Izzie used the embryos about six years ago."

"Uh, yeah, I guess that's right," Alex said hesitantly. He couldn't tell from Jo's face or tone exactly how she was feeling.

"And she only told you last week," Jo said.

It wasn't a question. Jo knew he didn't keep secrets from her. But still he felt the need to respond and reassure her anyway.

"Yeah. And I'm guessing she wouldn't have told me at all if I hadn't called."

Finally, Jo came to join him at the table. And the look on her face was one of nothing but love. Reaching across the table to hold his hand, she asked, "Are you okay?"

This wasn't what Alex had been expecting. And possibly the surprise was showing on his face because Jo added, "Alex, however you're feeling is valid. This is something major."

"It's not that. It's just that..." Alex took his time chewing a bite of pizza before continuing, "I was expecting us to be having a different conversation right now."

Jo sighed. "Look, I'm not going to sit here and lie. Am I excited to find out you have surprise kids with your ex-wife? No. But I'm not mad at you Alex."

Alex released a deep breath. "You don't know how relieved I am to hear you say that. I thought you'd be mad for sure."

"Well, I didn't say I'm not mad, just not at you," Jo corrected. "I mean, aren't _you_ mad at Izzie? She had your kids and didn't even bother telling you."

"Jo, I told her she could use the embryos without me. The truth is, we always knew this was a possibility. I just never actually thought it would happen."

Jo huffed. "Then I guess I'm just mad at the world or life or whatever it is that always makes our lives so complicated."

Alex laughed at that. "I guess that's fair."

"So how are you feeling?" Jo asked.

Alex didn't answer right away. How was he feeling? Like his world had come to a complete stop. A bit like he was in a dream. It was a dream that felt so strange, but not really in a bad way.

"Babe, where are you?" Jo asked.

Alex shook his head. "Sorry. I don't know how to feel. There have been two kids walking around, growing up, possibly looking like me, for the past five years and I had no idea." Alex took a deep breath and then added, "I want to meet them."

"Is Izzie okay with that?"

"Yeah, she's the one who offered actually."

For a brief second Alex thought he saw the tiniest hint of a change in Jo's expression, but it was gone so fast he must have imagined it. She was however starting to tear her crust into tiny pieces. Alex couldn't blame her for feeling uneasy, this whole situation had come from out of left field. But he needed Jo's support with this. He was definitely nervous for what was to come and she was the one who always made him feel calm and like everything would work out.

"I asked her if I could bring you with me."

Jo looked surprised by this. "Really? What did she say?"

"She's fine with it. So, will you come?"

"Alex, of course if you want me to come I will."

Alex breathed a sigh of relief. For some reason he had been thinking Jo would be furious with him. "I love you so much," he said.

"I know," Jo said with a smirk and making him laugh. "Wanna know a secret?" she asked, moving around the table to come sit on his lap. "I love you so much too."

"Perfect," Alex said placing a kiss to her lips.

"So, I guess we're going to Kansas."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for disappearing and abandoning this story temporarily! This whole COVID-19 situation has been crazy stressful, but I'm starting to figure out how I'm going to go forward with this new reality we're in and hopefully that means I'll be able to write more regularly. Hopefully people are still interested in reading this!


	6. Chapter 6

Alex couldn’t believe this was happening. Before two weeks ago his past with Izzie had barely been a thought in his mind. Now, out of nowhere, he had two kids and was about to meet them for the first time. Well, not out of nowhere, he had called her. But this isn’t what he had thought would come of that phone call. He had just wanted to catch up, see how she was doing, and know that she was okay. Now he and Jo were in the middle of nowhere after taking a cab from the Kansas City Airport.

Jo finished paying the driver and then joined him by his side at the end of a long pathway leading up to a decent-sized farmhouse style home. Just over a week into December, several people had strung up their Christmas lights, but Izzie’s was the only home already fully decked out. There were inflatable reindeer on the still green lawn, snowflake stickers in the windows, and garland wrapped around the mailbox post. 

“Ready?” Jo asked.

“Not at all,” Alex mumbled, “Let’s go.”

With each step he took closer to the front door, Alex’s heart pounded harder and faster. He rang the doorbell quickly before he had a chance to overthink it. Jo could probably tell how nervous he was getting because she took his hand in hers and gave it a tight squeeze. It was comforting, but did nothing to actually calm him down.

What if one of the kids answered the door? How should he introduce himself? What had Izzie told them about him? Had she told them anything? He should have asked her these things beforehand. How long had they been waiting? Had they not heard the doorbell? Should he ring it again? Yes.

Just as Alex was reaching in front of him to do just that, the door finally opened and there was Izzie. She looked just like he remembered, a bit older of course, but otherwise exactly the same, and maybe happier too. Happier from seeing him, or just happier in her new life, he wasn’t sure. The thought of the latter hurt a little, though he couldn’t quite place why. He was happier in his life than he’d ever been before, why shouldn’t it be the same for her?

Realizing he was still poised to ring the doorbell again he quickly stuffed both his hands in the pockets of his jeans, not sure what else to do with them.

“Hey,” he said awkwardly.

Izzie gave him a big smile. “Hey Alex.” She didn’t seem nervous at all as she extended her hand to Jo, “And Jo, right? It’s nice to meet you. Come in.”

Izzie always was good with meeting new people and making a good impression. Not at all like Alex who suddenly found himself having to really think about how to act like a normal person.

“Your house is beautiful,” Jo said just before they followed her into a kitchen that was, well, a mess.

“Thanks. Sorry about the chaos in here,” Izzie said with a laugh. “I was trying out a new recipe and thought I’d be done and cleaned up before you guys got here, but I guess I lost track of time.”

“Well it smells great in here,” Jo said, taking a seat at the island. She looked toward Alex, probably waiting for him to say something, but he just stood awkwardly at the entrance of the kitchen so she continued, “I hope you didn’t go to too much trouble.”

Izzie began clearing up the mess and moving things to the dishwasher. “Oh no, this is just what I do whenever I have a day off work. Do either of you want something to drink?”

“A coffee would be great, thanks,” Jo said.

Then Izzie turned his way. “Alex?”

“Uh, no thanks, I’m good.”

“Are you?” Izzie asked. “You know you can sit down, right?”

Alex nodded but made no move to leave his position by the entrance of the kitchen.

“You’re nervous to meet them.” It wasn’t a question, it was a fact, and an obvious one at that.

“Are they here?” Alex asked.

“They’re across the road at our neighbour’s farm. I thought we should chat first.”

“Okay.” Finally, Alex sat down next to Jo at the island. “I’m sorry for being weird and-”

“Don’t feel sorry,” Izzie cut him off, “This is a lot.”

“Yeah,” Alex and Jo both agreed.

Izzie handed Jo her coffee and the milk and sugar, then leaned on the counter across from them.

“So,” she began, for the first time seeming nervous, “I just told the kids an old friend of mine was coming over to visit.”

“Oh.” Alex couldn’t deny he felt hurt by that. But what could he say? He had given Izzie permission to do whatever she wanted with the embryos. And apparently what she wanted was for him not to be involved. Of course that’s what she wanted. If she had wanted him to be involved, he would have heard from her five years ago.

“It’s just, a lot to explain to five-year-olds, you know?”

“Yeah, I get it,” he said, although, no, he didn’t. Alex did his best to not let his voice betray him as he asked, “So you want me to pretend I’m just a random old friend? That I’m no one to them?”

He clearly hadn’t done a good job of hiding his disappointment because Izzie now looked uncomfortable and Jo was giving his hand a tight squeeze again. This time it was helping a little. If anyone would understand why this mattered to him it was Jo.

“Well, yeah? I mean, you just wanted to meet them, right?

What did he want? To just meet them once? Or did he want to be a part of their lives? Izzie was tugging at her sleeves now, a habit Alex remembered well from any time she was feeling unsure of herself. Was she thinking it was a mistake to invite him here? Would she ask them to leave right after they just got here?

“God, we should have straightened this all out before you came here,” Izzie said with a sigh.

“Yeah,” Jo replied under her breath so just Alex could hear. “Sorry,” she added when she saw the look he gave her.

“Iz, it’s fine,” Alex said trying to ease this new tension. He didn’t really feel fine, but legally they were Izzie’s kids, and he did just want to meet them, in whatever way Izzie was okay with. “You’re right, I do just want to meet them. It doesn’t need to be anything more than that.”

“Are you sure you’re okay with that?” Izzie asked.

“Yes,” Alex said, hoping he sounded sure of himself.

From the look on Jo’s face he could tell she wasn’t buying it, but Izzie seemed to relax which was good enough for the time being. Now Alex just had to convince himself.


	7. Chapter 7

“Alex, are you sure you’re okay with this?” Jo asked now that they were alone. Izzie was on her phone in the next room, calling her neighbour to bring the kids over.

Alex had never been good at lying to Jo, but he also didn’t want her to worry, so he just stuck with the facts.

“I signed away my rights here. Legally Izzie doesn’t owe me anything.”

Unfortunately, Jo wasn’t falling for it.

“Yeah, legally whatever, I’m asking how you’re _feeling_.

Before Alex could respond they heard animated voices coming from the front of the house.

“I won, I got to the door first!”

“The stairs were the finish line, I won!”

“You pushed me!”

“No, you tripped!”

And then they came bursting into the kitchen and Alex felt like time froze… except of course that doesn’t actually happen and they were introducing themselves to him and Jo and asking them a multitude of questions. For a couple of minutes he just sat there silently as Jo engaged with them and Izzie tried to get them to ease up on the questions to no avail.

They were perfect. Alex didn’t even really know them yet, but already he was sure of that. Alexis had Izzie’s eyes, the biggest smile, and long blonde hair. She looked identical to pictures Alex had seen of Izzie when she was young. And Eli looked nothing like he had imagined. When he had pictured his son, he had imagined a boy looking like he did when he was younger, but that wasn’t the case. That is, until Izzie made a comment about him smelling like he’d been playing with the pigs, and a crooked smile broke out on his face, just like his own crooked smile.

Finally, Alexis turned to him and asked, “Are you mute?” This snapped Alex out of his own head.

“Alexis!” Izzie chided.

“What? It’s just a question.”

Alex chuckled. “Um, no, I’m not mute. You two have just got a lot to say and I didn’t want to interrupt.”

“Oh, okay. Do you want to see our rooms? We built a fort in Eli’s room yesterday and it’s really cool!”

“Yeah, of course, let’s see it!” Alex responded enthusiastically.

Alexis ran ahead to lead the way upstairs as the rest of them followed. Eli hung back to walk beside Alex at the back of the group.

Then quietly, so that only Alex could hear, he said, “Sometimes I get nervous too.”

Surprised, Alex looked down at the small boy beside him. Eli reached into his pocket and pulled out a penny.

“Here,” he said, “You can borrow my lucky penny. My mama did a magic spell on it so if you hold it you won’t be nervous.”

Alex took the penny and rubbed it between two fingers. “Wow, I think I feel it working. Thank you.”

“Just don’t lose it, okay?”

“I promise I won’t,” Alex said with a smile.

The rest of the afternoon and evening went by in a blur. The kids showed Alex and Jo their fort and all their toys and books, and taught them how to play a game they had invented called Sheet Rocket. Alexis and Eli were smart and funny and creative and Alex couldn’t believe these two perfect tiny humans had been here for the past five years without him knowing.

Then they had all sat down to dinner together. Jo and Izzie were getting along great which he couldn’t believe as they traded stories about work. And the twins let them know that they were also going to be doctors when they got older and already had several stuffed animal patients whose lives they had saved. And Alex got to learn all about their life here in Kansas, everything they loved about living right across from a farm, who their friends at school were, and what they were hoping to get for Christmas. It was a moment Alex wished he could stay in forever.

As the evening was wrapping up Izzie suggested they stay there instead of going to a hotel. So, Alex and Jo found themselves settling into a comfortable and tastefully decorated guest bedroom after wishing the twins a goodnight in the hallway.

“That felt like a good day,” Jo said as they climbed into bed. “Are you happy you came?”

“Definitely. And thank you for coming. I don’t think I could have done this without you.” Alex leaned over and kissed Jo before lying down beside her.

“Mmm. Of course, babe. I love you.”

“Love you, too.”

Alex smiled and stared up at the ceiling. It had been a good day. He hadn’t really had any expectations coming here, but still he was surprised by how well the day had gone. But there was a small uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach that he couldn’t quite place. And as he continued to lay there, he could not fall asleep. He looked over to his side and saw that Jo was already sound asleep, her breaths slow and even. He considered waking her up to talk about it, but realized he didn’t even know what he would say since he couldn’t even figure out what he was feeling himself.

So, he got up and headed to the kitchen to get something to drink and hopefully ease his mind.

**Author's Note:**

> Basically, I'm retconning the show writers' retcon. I get why they did what they did, but boy oh boy, it did not go down smooth. Hopefully this will be a bit better.


End file.
